May 18 Open Thread: Sports Betting Won’t Help Casinos, Says Casino CEO Begging State for Cash

Filed in National by on May 18, 2018

Delaware’s casinos like to cry poormouth. The ink is barely dry on the Supreme Court’s ruling that states can legalize sports betting and the racinos have already announced plans to begin taking bets next month. Lest anyone think this alleviates the gambling barons’ begging for tax relief from the General Assembly, Denis McGlynn of Dover Downs explained that they’ll probably lose money on it, because they make so little on bets on individual games. The logical objections to this bit of nonsense are so obvious that only slot-machine players could miss them. In case any are reading, I’ll spell it out: They don’t have to offer sports betting if they think it will lose money. Remember, spewing out bullshit is why McGlynn gets the big bucks.

The person who leaked the bank documents on Michael Cohen’s suspicious activity said he did so because similar information was disappearing from government records. Turns out those records aren’t being destroyed, but they’ve been made unavailable to law enforcement, which is probably even more suspicious than it sounds.

While people like to speculate about treason, a more rational reason for the Trump family’s troubles hides in plain sight: They’re not anywhere near as rich as they pretend to be, and need an enormous cash flow to keep up the pretense. Gaining control of the government has made that easier, as evidenced by the news that a Qatari company with ties to its government has stepped forward to loan Jared Kushner, Trump’s fucked-up Mini-Me, enough money to bail out his white-elephant Manhattan office tower.

Michael Tomasky makes the case that the female takeover of the Democratic Party will be good for everyone. To which I reply, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz.

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  1. Arthur says:

    Im sure the reason carney was so fast to put the sports betting into motion is because the 3 racinos said they would lose money on the deal. also, this just in – being a runway model is REALLY hard

  2. RE Vanella says:

    Your slur against DWS has been noted. I hope our wine mom pops in for her daily spanking. She’ll noticed that little dig.

  3. mouse says:

    What a pathetic state needing crooked gambling revenue and incorporation of corporate crooks as a tax base

  4. bamboozer says:

    And on a lighter note Rudy Giuliani Look Alike Contest Cancelled due to lack of interest. Amen.

  5. Alby says:

    @REV: They’re tired of making do with 70% of a shit sandwich. They want a whole shit sandwich.

  6. spktruth says:

    To hell with these casinos…if they can’t make a buck or a profit, then SHUT EM down!
    Why the hell are we taxpayers throwing good money (OUR) money into these scams, ponzi schemes. Dealing with cash money is easily hidden, ask Donald Trump. There are more important issues to consider healthcare, education,housing, raises for state employees, cutting fraud and waste ….the casinos.

    There is a rumor around Sussex County that the casinos actually own the machines…is this truth or false?

    Whose gambling? Grandma and Pa, throwing their social security into a known, wasteful, addiction based habit. Stand outside and watch who goes in….tell us what you find.

  7. spktruth says:

    Oh, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz should be frog marched out of the Democratic Party! She was embedded with the Clinton camp, and involved being the bag lady for Democrat Party funds. As Chair she was not to take sides, she not only took sides in the primary, she did every dirty trick in the book to keep Sanders from winning the primary, even though his crowds were in the thousands, and hers could barely raise 250! Shultz is what is wrong with the party, including such clowns as: Hoyer, Carper, Coons, Mansion, and the rest of that corporate owned, self serving bunch of corrupt to the core and anti their own constituents and their rights.

  8. Alby says:

    “There is a rumor around Sussex County that the casinos actually own the machines…is this truth or false?”

    Under the enabling legislation, the state bought and maintained the machines, which are officially “video lottery terminals” or some such bullshit to get around the Constitutional ban on gambling. This is not an insubstantial investment on the state’s part.

    It isn’t even necessary for the state to shut down any casino (Dover Downs is the one that continually cries poormouth, but Harrington is the financially shakiest). What ought to be obvious but I’m sure is beyond the intellectual capacity of 2/3rds of downstaters is that the owners could always sell the casino to someone else, or allow a company that actually knows how to run casinos lease the operation. But if they did that, Denis McGlynn couldn’t keep pulling down his ever-increasing salary.

  9. waterpirate says:

    Delaware needs to get out of the casino business period! It and the horse racing it was supposed to save needs to stand on it’s own or whither and die on the vine on its own. Leasing the properties to a entity that knows how to run a business is a great idea. Then the state can tax them all they want with no wining. Pure grift for those involved.

  10. Paul says:

    Meanwhile, the Delaware legislature is fiddling while the assault weapon roman candle burns.

  11. According to Rick Geisenberger from the SOS office, the expanded betting will only be available at the three casinos. That excludes all the other locations that offered the parlays, aka ‘sucker bets’.

    McGlynn whines that they make far less on the single game bets than they have on the parlay bets. Which of course ignores (a) they can still offer the parlay bets and (b) volume, volume, volume on the the single game bets and all the exotic wagers. Which one of you would NOT want a key to the vault like this to fall into your laps?

    I see no reason why ineptitude should be rewarded. FUCK McGlynn. I see no reason why this shouldn’t be opened up now that it’s legal. Permit the opening of betting parlors with all the amenities. Let the marketplace determine the winners and losers. There WILL be some winners, the myopic McGlynn not likely to be one of them.

  12. Rufus Y. Kneedog says:

    I seem to recall the DEFAC valued the gambling in the tens of millions before the courts limited it to parlays in the early Markell administration. Arguing that they will lose money is silly.

  13. spktruth says:

    It’s a CASH business!!! Who counts the money, who watches the counter, are there camera’s watching all this? Or, are we taxpayers gambling the cash is being handled correctly. Who is responsible, who counts, who watches the counter, who verifies the amount is correct, and who signs off on that number.

  14. RE Vanella says:

    “Just got back from the centrist rally. Amazing turnout. Thousands of people holding hands and chanting ‘Better things aren’t possible’ ”

    —-@InternetHippo via Twitter

  15. Lance says:

    The article neglects to tell you that current regulations are that the state takes half the revenues from sports betting, not to mention there are very slim margins on it.
    Think about it, if you play a team to win a game, there’s only 2 outcomes, you win, or you lose. 50-50 chance. Therefore you are going to have many more winners than you will with the current parlay structure. The average margins on sports wagering on 4 to 5 percent.

  16. RE Vanella says:

    That’s why books make odds and point spreads. The parlay handles this by making the bettor win multiple bets.

    Absolutely no sports book is going to take even money on both team is a game.

  17. jason330 says:

    Yeah. Good luck trying to get me to feel sorry for the house.

  18. RE Vanella says:

    Lance doesn’t understand how gambling works. But that’s actually good for Lance.

  19. Alby says:

    @Lance: The linked article does point out that the margin on single-game betting is much lower than on parlays, which hardly anybody wins.

    But so what? Remember, we’re talking about an “industry” that produces nothing. Their overhead isn’t exactly killing them.